Better Presentations

Whether you are a university professor, researcher at a think tank, graduate student, or analyst at a private firm, chances are that at some point you have presented your work in front of an audience. Most of us approach this task by converting a written document into slides, but the result is often a text-heavy presentation saddled with bullet points, stock images, and graphs too complex for an audience to decipher—much less understand. Presenting is fundamentally different from writing, and with only a little more time, a little more effort, and a little more planning, you can communicate your work with force and clarity. Designed for presenters of scholarly or data-intensive content, Better Presentations details essential strategies for developing clear, sophisticated, and visually captivating presentations. Following three core principles—visualize, unify, and focus—Better Presentations describes how to visualize data effectively, find and use images appropriately, choose sensible fonts and colors, edit text for powerful delivery, and restructure a written argument for maximum engagement and persuasion. With a range of clear examples for what to do (and what not to do), the practical package offered in Better Presentations shares the best techniques to display work and the best tactics for winning over audiences. It pushes presenters past the frustration and intimidation of the process to more effective, memorable, and persuasive presentations.

FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

Presentation Patterns is the first book on presentations that categorizes and organizes the building blocks (or patterns) that you’ll need to communicate effectively using presentation tools like Keynote and PowerPoint. Patterns are like the lower-level steps found inside recipes; they are the techniques you must master to be considered a master chef or master presenter. You can use the patterns in this book to construct your own recipes for different contexts, such as business meetings, technical demonstrations, scientific expositions, and keynotes, just to name a few. Although there are no such things as antirecipes, this book shows you lots of antipatterns—things you should avoid doing in presentations. Modern presentation tools often encourage ineffective presentation techniques, but this book shows you how to avoid them. Each pattern is introduced with a memorable name, a definition, and a brief explanation of motivation. Readers learn where the pattern applies, the consequences of applying it, and how to apply it. The authors also identify critical antipatterns: clichés, fallacies, and design mistakes that cause presentations to disappoint. These problems are easy to avoid—once you know how. Presentation Patterns will help you Plan what you’ll say, who you’ll say it to, how long you’ll talk, and where you’ll present Perfectly calibrate your presentation to your audience Use the storyteller’s “narrative arc” to full advantage Strengthen your credibility—and avoid mistakes that hurt it Hone your message before you ever touch presentation software Incorporate visuals that support your message instead of hindering it Create highly effective “infodecks” that work when you’re not able to deliver a talk in person Construct slides that really communicate and avoid “Ant Fonts,” “Floodmarks,” “Alienating Artifacts,” and other errors Master 13 powerful techniques for delivering your presentation with power, authority, and clarity Whether you use this book as a handy reference or read it from start to finish, it will be a revelation: an entirely new language for systematically planning, creating, and delivering more powerful presentations. You’ll quickly find it indispensable—no matter what you’re presenting, who your audiences are, or what message you’re driving home.

Presents practical approaches for developing an effective presentation, covering such topics as creating diagrams, displaying data, arranging elements, creating movement, and interacting with slides.

Tackling a challenge faced by millions of business professionals every day, this handy guide shows how to create effective, visually appealing PowerPoint slides. In contrast to other books on the topic that focus on the wrong skills or read like boring technical manuals, this lighthearted book avoids jargon and provides useful information about the practical realities of creating materials in this popular application. It addresses common user concerns, such as turning facts and data into compelling visual images, generating concise project updates, creating presentation decks to be emailed or reviewed over the phone, and finding useful PowerPoint examples with minimal research. With accessible Language and 50 color illustrations, the book efficiently explains how to translate ideas into sleek presentations.

THIRD EDITION: Did you learn PowerPoint in 30 minutes? Join the crowd...most people get no more than a half-hour of training time with PowerPoint before they are tasked with making what is likely to be a first impression of themselves or their company. This book is for earnest presenters and presentation designers who want to escape the perils that entrap so many who turn to PowerPoint for their presentations.

Craft and deliver outstanding presentations, speeches, demos, and more! Learn how, from the world's #1 presentation coach, Jerry Weissman -- and the experiences of dozens of the world's legendary persuaders! This book distills 75 best practices and techniques Weissman has developed through more than 20 years coaching executives on their highest-stakes presentations. In Winning Strategies for Power Presentations, Weissman identifies the elements of a great presentation, offering powerful new insights into contents, graphics, delivery, Q-and-A sessions, and much more. Weissman illuminates every technique with a compelling case study, drawing on the positive and negative experiences of communicators ranging from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, Jon Stewart to venture capitalist John Doerr, Stephen King to Mark Twain, Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. For the first time, he specifically and thoroughly addresses the unique challenges of making persuasive political presentations and speeches. This book also includes brand-new advice on a wide spectrum of "special presentation" issues, ranging from developing a richer public speaking voice to delivering scripted speeches, interviewing like a TV anchorperson to demonstrating products more successfully. For everyone who must speak and present more effectively in public: executives, managers, professional speakers, business leaders, project leaders, sales personnel, instructors, students, and many others.

Terrified of speaking in front of a group> Or simply looking to polish your skills? No matter where you are on the spectrum, this guide will give you the confidence and the tools you need to get results. Learn how to wIn over tough crows, organize a coherent narrative, create powerful messages and visuals, connect with and engage your audience, show people why your ideas matter to them, and strike the right tone, in any situation.